It's true that forums are hard to monetize with Adsense and other affiliate ads, but they're definitely not impossible to monetize.
I started/ran silverfishlongboarding.com for a few years and the forums became very popular. Even so, it never made more than a couple hundred a month off Adsense.
Eventually we got rid of Adsense and started selling ads directly. Within a few months we were bringing in several thousand a month. It was much more time consuming, but it worked. I sold the site a couple years ago, but I keep in touch with the new owners and I know that at least one of them is making a living full time off it.
Wow, I used to surf the 'fish a good bit last year. Got hooked up with the Friday Night Rip at Prospect Park with the Earthwing and Bustin crews, bought a Kracked Skulls M1; my roommate bought an Original Apex. It's still a great site with a valuable community. Nice work!
I started/ran silverfishlongboarding.com for a few years and the forums became very popular. Even so, it never made more than a couple hundred a month off Adsense.
Eventually we got rid of Adsense and started selling ads directly. Within a few months we were bringing in several thousand a month. It was much more time consuming, but it worked. I sold the site a couple years ago, but I keep in touch with the new owners and I know that at least one of them is making a living full time off it.